Changing Hydraulic Fluid on L3240 HST

[Chewwy]

I am getting ready to do the 400 hour service on my L3240 HST. The service includes changing the hydraulic filter, the transmission filter and the hydraulic fluid. The hydraulic fluid change requires 11.1 gals. There are three plugs that have to be removed to fully drain the fluid. See the diagram for the locations of the plugs. My plan is to remove the plugs one at a time and catch the fluid in 5 gal buckets.

Is the quantity of fluid from any of the 3 locations going to exceed 5 gals?

I am concerned about exceeding the 5 gal capacity in the buckets and having to quickly swap the buckets to avoid a mess on the shop floor.

 

[RjCorazza]

I don't know if a 5 gallon bucket will fit under your machine, and the center drain may (?) exceed that. I use a large Tupperware style storage container when I do mine, and even with that I stop the flow 1/2 way through to make handling it easier.

 

[Chewwy]

What I called a 5 gal bucket is actually a 5 gal oil drain pan from an auto parts house.

It is only about 8 inches tall and will easily fit under the machine.

I had thought about using a plastic concrete mixing trough from Lowes. It is also only about 8 inches tall and will hold much for than 5 gals, but not 11 gals.

With 3 drain locations it seems unlikely any one would except the center drain would exceed 5 gals.

 

[RjCorazza]

The rear differential drains on my L4060 and previous L3410 didn't drain much fluid... perhaps a gallon or two.

 

[azbinder]

1-Put drain pan under tractor.
2-Remove which ever plug you chose and drain enough fluid to fill the pan. 3-Install the plug and then empty drain pan into a larger container.
4- Repeat steps 1-3 until the rest of the fluid is drained.

 

[masscity]

I have the L3540HSTC-3, same trans as yours. I'm at 853 hours and I'm going to do my 3rd change soon. I use 5 gal pails, the two rear side drains fill less than half of each bucket and I do them first. Then I do the front main one and that is about 4 3/4 gal. I get somewhere around 8+ gal total out of it. Your tractor may vary some.

I put it up on blocks, because the use the buckets and gives me plenty of room.

 

[Chewwy]

I have the L3540HSTC-3, same trans as yours. I'm at 853 hours and I'm going to do my 3rd change soon. I use 5 gal pails, the two rear side drains fill less than half of each bucket and I do them first. Then I do the front main one and that is about 4 3/4 gal. I get somewhere around 8+ gal total out of it. Your tractor may vary some.

I put it up on blocks, because the use the buckets and gives me plenty of room.

Thanks!

That is the info I was looking for. Quickly swapping even partially filled 5 gal pails when you are on your side or on your stomach is not a picnic and trying to reinsert the drain plug while it’s still flowing could be a messy ordeal.

The operators manual indicates that your L3540 also holds 11.1 gals of hydraulic fluid just like mine. Only having to deal with 8+ gals and no more than 5 gals from the main drain appears to resolve my worries.

 

[rScotty]

I'm curious to hear a report from someone who has tried to change the trans/hydraulic oil via the fill port using an oil extractor. Did it work? The fill port looks big enough to fit a large diameter extraction hose.

On our Kubota I tried to change the engine oil that way using an commercial electric motor driven vacuum extractor... not worth the effort - I think it failed because of the tiny tube diameter required to fit down the dipstick tube. After about 20 minutes of running the pump, it had only moved less than a quart of 10w30 synthetic.
rScotty

 

[Chewwy]

I'm curious to hear a report from someone who has tried to change the trans/hydraulic oil via the fill port using an oil extractor. Did it work? The fill port looks big enough to fit a large diameter extraction hose.

On our Kubota I tried to change the engine oil that way using an commercial electric motor driven vacuum extractor... not worth the effort - I think it failed because of the tiny tube diameter required to fit down the dipstick tube. After about 20 minutes of running the pump, it had only moved less than a quart of 10w30 synthetic.
rScotty

I will try it and let you know. I swear I saw some one on youtube doing it but can’t find it. Maybe I just dreamed it.

Am going to use one of the fuel syphon gizmos that are used to fill kerosene heaters.

 

[chim]

I've never trusted a pump for fluid removal. Just have a hard time believing it removes as much fluid as removing the plugs.

The drain pan I had wasn't going to be large enough for draining the L4240's SUDT2, so I bought a big mortar mixing pan at Home Depot.

Pro's: Has greater capacity than needed / is a huge easy to hit target / slides easily between drain plug locations.

Con's: Can be a bit cumbersome when dumping old fluids into used 5 gallon containers for disposal.